"What are we gonna do?" Sam asked, exchanging a worried look with Ethan.

"Should we go there?" Ethan pondered, his mind racing with the same question as Sam's.

"I think we should separate. I'll go through that," Ethan suggested, pointing towards a path, "and look for Adona. You can go and inform the staff."

"No, either we both go in there or both go back. I'm not going to leave you alone in there," Sam insisted firmly.

"I'm the one with superpowers, not you. You should go back," Ethan raised his voice in frustration.

"I'm not moving an inch. I know I don't have any powers, but it's always better to stick together, and I can always watch your back Plus, I also know mixed martial arts," Sam countered.

Sighing, Ethan accepted defeat. There was no way he could convince Sam right now.This is how Sam always acted. If he had something on his mind, it was like it was carved in stone.

"Alright, always stay behind me," Ethan instructed.

With that, Ethan crawled through the small hole to the other side, and Sam followed suit.

"Wow," Sam exclaimed in amazement at the sight before him.

Meanwhile, Ethan observed their surroundings. The backyard forest and the forbidden forest were stark contrasts. The trees here were significantly taller, reaching heights of at least 10 meters, and the one-meter clearance from the wall remained. The vegetation was denser, with thick plantations surrounding them.

"Where should we go now?" Sam asked, looking around.

"Look," Ethan pointed at a few crushed leaves on the ground. "Is it from Adona?"

"It should be, or maybe an animal," Sam replied.

"Well, we don't have anything else to go on," Ethan remarked.

"Yeah, let's go," Sam agreed

Ethan took the lead, but as they ventured farther from the wall, using the unconfirmed grass crushed path, unease settled in.

"We're about 30 meters away from the wall now," Ethan noted.

"Nah, I don't like this, man," Sam replied, the density of the plantations increasing around them.

"We'll go a few more meters, and then we'll turn back. We don't want to risk getting lost too," Ethan decided.

"Yeah, if this is her, why does it seem like she was dragging her feet while walking?" Sam wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but the only thing keeping me in this forest is these footsteps that crushed the grass," Ethan remarked.

After another 50 meters, they stopped. However, the footpath seemed to vanish from there. They were hesitant to explore further, fearing they might become lost themselves.

"Let's go back, man. We have to be fast," Ethan urged.

"Wait, can you hear it?" Sam whispered.

"Hear what?" Ethan asked.

"It's a “rum rum” sound," Sam said, his voice tense.

They both listened intently.

"It's coming from there," Sam pointed at some bushes.

Cautiously, Ethan and Sam approached the bushes, which were about 10 feet away. What they saw beyond the bushes was horrifying—something they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

In a plot of land approximately 8 square meters in size, the trees had been torn out of the ground, leaving behind pits where they once stood. The grass had been weeded out, exposing fertile-looking brown soil. However, their attention was drawn to the mid-air.

Above the ground, Adona was floating about 1 foot above the ground, and above her was a creature that neither Sam nor Ethan had ever seen before, not even in photos.

It resembled an octopus but was much larger, even slightly taller than the treetops. Two of its arms were connected to Adona's head from the sides. They could see the creature's transparent organs, including a large blue coloured brain and several other unidentified organs. Its big blue eyeballs were closed, and they could see the nerves connecting the eyes to the brain. Strangely, they couldn't spot the mouth of this creature.

The creature's brain pulsed in a blue hue, and the pulse was transmitted to Adona's brain from its arms. She appeared to be in a very peaceful sleep under its influence.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Sam whispered in a terrified voice.

"I have no fucking idea," Ethan replied, equally shaken. Unbeknownst to them, they were both swearing and whispering.

"What are we gonna do?" Sam asked anxiously.

"I'll try to use my powers to remove those arms from her. You go tell them and ask for help," Ethan suggested, acknowledging his role as the one with superpowers.

"Look at that thing. We don't even know what it is. And you can only attach bedsheets. What else can you do?" Sam pointed out the harsh truth.

Ethan looked at sam like he wanted to eat him alive saying the untenable truth, but he knew he was correct.

"Fair point. Alright, let's both go," Ethan conceded,

crack

As Ethan took the first step, a dried branch cracked under his foot.

"Bro, are you serious?" Sam wanted to scream, but they both looked back in vigilance and fright.

To their horror, the creature opened its eyes and locked gazes with them.

Before they could comprehend what was happening, it attacked. But to their surprise, it wasn't the creature attacking them, but Adona. Though her eyes remained closed, she moved with a speed barely perceptible to Ethan. The creature's arms, still attached to her head, stretched with Adona out towards Sam as she approached.

Reacting instinctively, Ethan pushed Sam out of the way, becoming the target of the attack himself. Adona's fist struck Ethan with a force that sent him flying like a meteor. He collided with a nearby tree and fell to the ground.

Ethan was shaken by the power of the punch but managed to get up, albeit struggling.

"How can I barely see her?" Ethan questioned his powers.

As the cosmos stored in his body enhanced his abilities, even the lowest E-class hero like Ethan was stronger and faster than the best normal human athletes. Somehow, the unawakened Adona was faster and stronger than him.

He couldn't feel his hand. "I need to get those two limbs off of her," he thought, determination flaring despite the pain.

"That's definitely broken," he realized as he looked down.

Ethan searched for his target, but all he saw was Adona zooming towards him with her fist clenched. Only three feet separated them, and Ethan couldn't react in time.

Bam!

The punch landed straight into his ribs, causing him to fall once again. But Adona didn't stop with just one punch. She unleashed a barrage of punches, not giving Ethan any chance of retaliation.

Every blow felt like a sledgehammer hitting him, and the pain was overwhelming. Ethan's eyes slowly closed as he felt his consciousness slipping away because of the pain. The relentless assault continued, each strike pushing him further into the abyss of unconsciousness.

Sam, who had fallen due to Ethan's push, witnessed his friend flying away to take the punch that was meant for him.

"God damn it, every time," Sam screamed in his head.

Every time something troubling happened to either Sam or Adona, it was always Ethan who jumped in the line of fire and took the hit. Whether it was bullying in the facility or punishment from the staff, Ethan always bore the brunt of it.

Then, he saw Adona rushing in and unleashing a barrage of punches towards Ethan, and without even realizing it, Sam was already running towards them.

"Adona, stop!" Sam screamed, but she didn't even flinch.

He felt a surge of anger at how Adona was attacking Ethan.

Even though all three of them were the same age, Sam would never admit it to Ethan's face that he considered Ethan like his big brother from the family he never knew, and Adona was like his little sister. Despite others calling them "two fatties and the beauty," Sam was fine with it. This was his little family, and seeing how his little sister was trying to harm his big brother devastated him.

As soon as he reached the duo, screaming, he tried to move Adona away from Ethan by grabbing her waist. But she didn't budge; she was like a floating rock that punched.

Realizing how futile his effort was, Sam stopped trying and looked around desperately for something to get her off him. He saw a rock nearby, weighing about 3 pounds, and grabbed it with both hands. With all his strength, he hurled it at her head, finally causing her to move away. Then, he delivered the best kick he had ever done, sending her flying a few feet away.

Sam rushed to check on his friend.

"Damn it," he muttered as he saw Ethan's battered face, torn shirt, and bruised body. Ethan looked half-dead, his breathing ragged.

Bam!

Sam felt a punch that was bigger than anything he had ever taken, and he almost fell onto Ethan's injured body. Barely holding onto the tree next to Ethan, Sam fought against the immense pain coursing through him.

Gathering all of his willpower to ignore the pain, Sam turned back to see what was happening. Adona was standing in front of him, her eyes now open. They weren't black like they used to be; instead, they were a bright light blue, but tears streamed down her face.

Bam!

Before Sam could comprehend what was happening, another punch struck him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Sam fell to his knees, but Adona's punches didn't stop. They kept coming, and her tears fell like a waterfall. Each blow that was meant for his stomach now landed on his face, and within a few punches to his eye sockets, his vision went out.

Bam!

The next punch sent him crashing down next to Ethan. The last thing he saw was Adona start kicking Ethan again before darkness enveloped his now blood-red vision.

The pain Sam felt was indescribable, beyond anything a normal human could endure. He knew several bones in his body were broken as he lay there, overwhelmed by pain and despair.

"Looks like we're both going to die today," Sam thought silently as he felt his consciousness slipping away.

Few seconds later,

"No!" A resolute cry echoed within his soul.